'Ah!' He studied the maps learnedly, then looked up at his two
captains. 'One of you on each side of me,' he instructed. 'Major Vita
you here! A stern expression, if you please, and do not look at the
camera.' He pointed with a lordly gesture at Johannesburg four
thousand miles to the south and held the pose long enough for Gino to
record it. Next, he climbed into the rear seat of the Rolls and,
standing, he pointed imperatively ahead along the road to the Danakil
desert.
Mistakenly, Luigi Castelani took this as a command to advance. He let
out a series of bull-like bellows and the battalion was galvanized into
frantic action. Like one man, they scrambled into the covered lorries
and took their seats on the long benches, each in full matching order
with a hundred rounds of ammunition in his bandolier and a rifle
between his knees.
However, by the time 690 men were embarked, the Colonel had once more
descended from the Rolls. It was an unfortunate chance that dictated
that the Rolls should be parked directly in front of the casino.
The casino was a government-licensed institution under whose auspices
young ladies were brought out from Italy on six-month contracts to
cater to the carnal needs of tens of thousands of lusty young men in a
woman less environment.
Very few of these ladies had the stamina to sign a renewal of the
contract and none of them found it necessary.
Possessed of a substantial dowry, they returned home to find a
husband.
The casino had a silver roof of galvanized corrugated iron Hill and its
eaves and balconies were decorated with intricate cast-iron work. The
windows of the girls' rooms opened on to the street.
The young hostesses, who usually rose in the mid afternoon, had been
prematurely awakened by the bellowing of orders and the clash of
weapons. They had traipsed out on to the long second-floor veranda,
clad in brightly coloured but flimsy nightwear, and now entered into
the spirit of the occasion, giggling and blowing kisses to the
officers. One of them had a bottle of iced Lacrima Cristi, which she
knew from experience was the Colonel's favourite beverage, and she
beckoned with the cold de wed bottle.
The Colonel realized suddenly that the singing and excitement had made
him thirsty and peckish.
'A cup for the stirrup, as the English say,' he suggested jocularly,
and slapped one of the captains on the shoulder.
Most of his staff followed him with alacrity into the casino.
A little after five o'clock, one of the junior subalterns emerged,
slightly inebriated, from the casino with a message from the Colonel to
the Major.
'At dawn tomorrow, we advance without fail.' The battalion rumbled out
of Asmara the following morning at ten o'clock. The Colonel was
feeling liverish and disgruntled. The previous night's excitement had
got out of hand, he had sung until his throat was hoarse and had drunk
great quantities of Lacrima Cristi, before going upstairs with two of
